Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Vocab Test Today
Well, American Heritage Dictionaries has released a list of 100 words (well, actually they did this back in June but I never finished this post) that every person graduating high school this month should know. It also takes a little dig at the parents of this generation by saying that the parents should know these words, too. Well, okay then.
I looked over the words and, well, I'm not communications expert but some of them are kind of tough. Wait, no... I am a communications expert. And I'm fairly sure the majority of high school graduates in this or any other year would have a tough time accurate defining even half of these words. Don't get me wrong, though: they're good words to know.
As a public service, I'm going to provide a definition to each one of them here. These definitions may or may not be as precise as American Heritage Dictionaries would like.
abjure - something to do with my abs
abrogate - a gate through which a man of color walks.
abstemious - where my abs grow from
acumen - accurate males.
antebellum - the opposite of a bellum.
auspicious - even higher than "delicious" when complimenting your mother-in-law's cooking.
belie - another word for your stomach.
bellicose - as close to something as your belly is to you.
bowdlerize - to make people want to bow to you.
chicanery - acting like a chicken.
chromosome - some amount of chrome.
churlish - sort of curly.
circumlocution - electrocution in a circle.
circumnavigate - reading a map in difficult circumstances.
deciduous - something that needs to be decided.
deleterious - acting like a runaway delete key with a mind of its own.
diffident - not the same.
enervate - to enable nerves.
enfranchise - to award a city a sports franchise.
epiphany - Similar to "Tiffany" in the 80s, a name for girls you want to grow up to be strippers.
equinox - two oxen of the same size.
euro - one of the Disneys.
evanescent - shitty euro-band.
expurgate - vomit.
facetious - very much about faces.
fatuous - proper spelling of "fatass."
feckless - without freckles.
fiduciary - one who employs douchebags.
filibuster - a bomb that blows up Philadelphia.
gamete - small legs.
gauche - like quiche, only tastier.
gerrymander - Gerry Mander, a guy I went to elementary school with.
hegemony - the cost for having landscaping done.
hemoglobin - globetrotting.
homogeneous - smart and gay.
hubris - a spice similar to paprika.
hypotenuse - ten very hyper uses for something.
impeach - a peach's evil twin.
incognito - within a cognito.
incontrovertible - a convertible automobile where the top no longer works.
inculcate - the opposite of calculate.
infrastructure - opposite of outfrastructure.
interpolate - precedes a description of what the guys at Interpol ate for lunch.
irony - metally.
jejune - stammering when naming this month.
kinetic - ethics of your kinfolk.
kowtow - dragging a cow on a trailer.
laissez faire - French for "let's fart."
lexicon - a six-way sexual encounter.
loquacious - a person made entirely of liquid.
lugubrious - heavy.
metamorphosis - to become a member of the New York Mets.
mitosis - what you say before you describe what your toes is. (ex. "My toes is itchy.")
moiety - between wet and moist.
nanotechnology - how my iPod works.
nihilism - being like a guy named Neil.
nomenclature - a women-only pottery class.
nonsectarian - no secretaries allowed.
notarize - when you want to show off how pretty your eyes are, you say this.
obsequious - SO obvious.
oligarchy - a salad dressing.
omnipotent - the highest sperm count in your graduating class.
orthography - the class you take after Geography.
oxidize - to make someone strong as an Ox.
parabola - two bolas.
paradigm - two dimes.
parameter - two meters.
pecuniary - more strange than "peculiar."
photosynthesis - taking pictures at the same time as someone else.
plagiarize - to frequent someplace.
plasma - a kind of TV.
polymer - many mers.
precipitous - raining.
quasar - a TV brand.
quotidian - someone you can quote.
recapitulate - to capitulate again.
reciprocal - to ciprocal again.
reparation - to parate again.
respiration - to spirit again.
sanguine - North of San Diego.
soliloquy - A good name for a hooker.
subjugate - to make two jugates.
suffragist - someone who enjoys suffering.
supercilious - very, very silly.
tautology - the science of being taught.
taxonomy - the art of cheating on your taxes.
tectonic - technical mixed drink with tonic water.
tempestuous - very tempting.
thermodynamics - a really cool (dynamic) Thermos.
totalitarian - completely.
unctuous - someone who used to be rambunctious but isn't anymore.
usurp - to vomit.
vacuous - very raucous.
vehement - exhale furiously.
vortex - how to enter the Matrix.
winnow - an upside-down minnow.
wrought - a kind of iron fence.
xenophobe - someone afraid of xylephones.
yeoman - the way to holler to a buddy who is walking by.
ziggurat - an expert in Zagat ratings.
I looked over the words and, well, I'm not communications expert but some of them are kind of tough. Wait, no... I am a communications expert. And I'm fairly sure the majority of high school graduates in this or any other year would have a tough time accurate defining even half of these words. Don't get me wrong, though: they're good words to know.
As a public service, I'm going to provide a definition to each one of them here. These definitions may or may not be as precise as American Heritage Dictionaries would like.
abjure - something to do with my abs
abrogate - a gate through which a man of color walks.
abstemious - where my abs grow from
acumen - accurate males.
antebellum - the opposite of a bellum.
auspicious - even higher than "delicious" when complimenting your mother-in-law's cooking.
belie - another word for your stomach.
bellicose - as close to something as your belly is to you.
bowdlerize - to make people want to bow to you.
chicanery - acting like a chicken.
chromosome - some amount of chrome.
churlish - sort of curly.
circumlocution - electrocution in a circle.
circumnavigate - reading a map in difficult circumstances.
deciduous - something that needs to be decided.
deleterious - acting like a runaway delete key with a mind of its own.
diffident - not the same.
enervate - to enable nerves.
enfranchise - to award a city a sports franchise.
epiphany - Similar to "Tiffany" in the 80s, a name for girls you want to grow up to be strippers.
equinox - two oxen of the same size.
euro - one of the Disneys.
evanescent - shitty euro-band.
expurgate - vomit.
facetious - very much about faces.
fatuous - proper spelling of "fatass."
feckless - without freckles.
fiduciary - one who employs douchebags.
filibuster - a bomb that blows up Philadelphia.
gamete - small legs.
gauche - like quiche, only tastier.
gerrymander - Gerry Mander, a guy I went to elementary school with.
hegemony - the cost for having landscaping done.
hemoglobin - globetrotting.
homogeneous - smart and gay.
hubris - a spice similar to paprika.
hypotenuse - ten very hyper uses for something.
impeach - a peach's evil twin.
incognito - within a cognito.
incontrovertible - a convertible automobile where the top no longer works.
inculcate - the opposite of calculate.
infrastructure - opposite of outfrastructure.
interpolate - precedes a description of what the guys at Interpol ate for lunch.
irony - metally.
jejune - stammering when naming this month.
kinetic - ethics of your kinfolk.
kowtow - dragging a cow on a trailer.
laissez faire - French for "let's fart."
lexicon - a six-way sexual encounter.
loquacious - a person made entirely of liquid.
lugubrious - heavy.
metamorphosis - to become a member of the New York Mets.
mitosis - what you say before you describe what your toes is. (ex. "My toes is itchy.")
moiety - between wet and moist.
nanotechnology - how my iPod works.
nihilism - being like a guy named Neil.
nomenclature - a women-only pottery class.
nonsectarian - no secretaries allowed.
notarize - when you want to show off how pretty your eyes are, you say this.
obsequious - SO obvious.
oligarchy - a salad dressing.
omnipotent - the highest sperm count in your graduating class.
orthography - the class you take after Geography.
oxidize - to make someone strong as an Ox.
parabola - two bolas.
paradigm - two dimes.
parameter - two meters.
pecuniary - more strange than "peculiar."
photosynthesis - taking pictures at the same time as someone else.
plagiarize - to frequent someplace.
plasma - a kind of TV.
polymer - many mers.
precipitous - raining.
quasar - a TV brand.
quotidian - someone you can quote.
recapitulate - to capitulate again.
reciprocal - to ciprocal again.
reparation - to parate again.
respiration - to spirit again.
sanguine - North of San Diego.
soliloquy - A good name for a hooker.
subjugate - to make two jugates.
suffragist - someone who enjoys suffering.
supercilious - very, very silly.
tautology - the science of being taught.
taxonomy - the art of cheating on your taxes.
tectonic - technical mixed drink with tonic water.
tempestuous - very tempting.
thermodynamics - a really cool (dynamic) Thermos.
totalitarian - completely.
unctuous - someone who used to be rambunctious but isn't anymore.
usurp - to vomit.
vacuous - very raucous.
vehement - exhale furiously.
vortex - how to enter the Matrix.
winnow - an upside-down minnow.
wrought - a kind of iron fence.
xenophobe - someone afraid of xylephones.
yeoman - the way to holler to a buddy who is walking by.
ziggurat - an expert in Zagat ratings.
Labels: amusing myself so
